


Guilt

by ScarSense



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Halt O'Carrick - Freeform, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, They need more love, i love these ships??, slow chapter updates only because I'm an AP student, so imma give them some, thx for understanding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:56:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarSense/pseuds/ScarSense
Summary: In which Will makes a mistake, resulting in death, tragedy, and.... love?





	1. The floor, the Halt, and the paper.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello anyone who is reading this, yeah, you. Right there. With the face. Welcome aboard to my train wreck of a story! I will update whenever I feel inspired to, so if you want updates be sure to bookmark so it doesn't get lost. :D 
> 
> This story takes place after book 4, right near the beginning of book 5. These ships are weird, but make me warm inside. I'm thinking this will be a slow burn fic, but there may be... fun times ;) **if I can convince my friend to write a piece for me**. If that ever happens, I will make sure the chapter has a warning so all of you that don't want to see it don't have to. But who am I kidding, I'm pretty sure we all do lol
> 
> **All future notes will be at the end of chapters**

The black charcoal pencil moved across the paper as straight as a river. Which, according to the maps Will had studied as an apprentice, wasn't a good thing. The paper was thin, and as such creased irreparably whenever he scribbled or erased in frustration. He prayed the paper wouldn't be torn to ribbons by the end of the hour. Although, knowing his luck, he wouldn't be surprised if it did. He swore to himself that next time he went to town for supplies, he wouldn't buy parchment from the inn.

"I bet the innkeeper must have been in a fit of laughter when I left. I knew I should have just asked for supplies from the scribe school," he scolded himself, reaching to his right side to pet his black and white dog. His childhood friend, George, would have been delighted to help him out (with minimal charges) if he visited Castle Araluen for a week or so. It was too bad he hadn't thought of it earlier. "Oh well. The anatomy wasn't what I was hoping for anyways. Maybe instead of worrying about paper, I'll worry about not disgracing the paper with my art." The animal at his side wagged its tail and tilted its head. _Whatever you make looks great to me_ , she seemed to be saying.

Yawning, Will stretched his arms above his head. He wasn't used to being stuck inside all day. His body, especially his legs, were screaming to go and do anything outside. However, his mind wanted to relax and Will was content with laying on the floor of his comfy wooden cabin.

Given up on his artwork (if you could call it that), he considered getting up and taking a nap in his bed before supper.

Recently, he had been practicing his archery in the shadows of the night because of an incident regarding a group of thugs. Typically for Will, these find-capture missions were easy. He had received word around three months ago a band of thugs were giving travelers from the mainland of Araluen trouble. He didn't think much of it, considering he got these sorts of requests delivered in his mail frequently, and set off to end their mischief.

It turned out his flippant attitude of the situation was what cost him. Will had caught up to the party leading up to the docks of Seacliff in the evening, and decided to use the cover of the night to ambush them. He figured late in the night the sentry would be off his guard, and he would be able to cut them down easily. However, this plan was all to his despair; he had to learn the hard way it was arduous to aim when you couldn't see 20 meters into the distance. In the end, the leader of the bandits, Thoan, managed to escape and flee into the forest. This worried Will, mostly because he was a formidable foe, agile and intelligent; both of which not something you want in an enemy. It could come back around and give Will more trouble. Of course, this was unlikely. The bandit knew of his presence now, and wouldn't be eager to start causing trouble again. In fact, he was probably going to head off south to another country or fief. In a place like Gallica, it wouldn't be hard to make a living as a crook like Thoan.

Despite all of this, he still scolded himself, cursing under his breath every time he remembered it. He could practically hear Halt's voice dryly noting night isn't a friend, unless there's some sneaking around a Ranger needs to do. Looking back on this entire situation, it was a rookie mistake. Him being overconfident was a rookie mistake. Him attacking at night was a _rookie mistake_.

"I am a rookie mistake," Will groaned, letting his self deprecation become the padding of his mattress of despair.

"An accident maybe, but you're not a mistake." A familiar gruff voiced deadpanned from across the room.

"Halt! You're here!" Will ignored his remark, getting off the floor in a hurry. "I thought it'd take another day's ride at least for you to get here! How are you? How did you get into my house without me knowing?"

Halt's weariness crept back to him with every question Will asked. "To answer your infinite amount of questions..." he raised an eyebrow at Will, who smiled guiltily. "...I figured I'd take a couple shortcuts to get here faster. We both know the more time you're here unsupervised, the more of a chance Seacliff will burn to the ground."

Will cracked a smile, understanding his former mentor was pulling his leg. "I'm aware. If we had fifty Halts running the corps, we would be free of crime in the kingdom."

"Don't discredit yourself. You're running this fief very well. If only I had your skill when I started out."

Will turned away from his mentor, his face growing hot with embarrassment. Ever since Will had first got in contact with Halt after fighting the Temujai scouting party in Skandia, he had gotten more compliments than ever from Halt.

Each positive word was as wonderful as the last.

"So, want some food? There will be delicious soup ready in around an hour if you stick around."

"Of course."


	2. The Forest Runner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is formed. Dad jokes are made.

_Three months previously..._

His feet were sore. His arms ached. The wound in his shoulder was on fire. He was blinded by pain; the dense, forest  wilderness around him only worsened the situation. This did not keep him from trekking further into the forest, searching for his commander.

Nothing would. Nothing could.

He was terrified. He didn't know if the warrior, who had mercilessly injured all of his party, was still tailing him, and the fear of the shadowed figure kept him running.  _Telling the commander is critical. One step._ _Another. Watch out for the rock._ His breaths were short, shallow, and husky; the man knew he would have to rest as soon as he returned. He had been running for what seemed to be three or more hours, bumbling and wincing in pain whenever a branch scraped his wound, or when his foot slipped on a loose rock.  _He's after me. Telling the commander is critical._

He finally reached the edge of his camp. It was generously wealthy; there was a sleeping space for every man, cooking pots and fire pits in the center of the clearing, and an area for storing food and horses. Only around thirty men resided here, but it was enough to feel at home. Each man was Gallician, using the same patterns on their blankets and horses' saddles. 

He limped into camp, several men jumping off the grassy ground or a hand-made stool to help him to the medical tent. "No," he managed to croak, "C-coman.. commander fir..t. First." The three men helping him looked at each other, before helping the injured man to their commander's tent. Immediately after the four soldiers barged into the tent, the person residing inside was at attention. He stood up from his chair, and paced over to them.

"Thoan," he stated. "Report."

Thoan nodded his head, and swallowed to moisten his throat. "We were attacked, am..bushed. By a shadowed figure. Dead of n-night, sir. I am the only one who escaped."

The commander nodded his head slowly. "Tell me more about this shadowed figure. Do you have any other details or information we can use?"

Thoan could feel his throat burning. He was exhausted and dehydrated, but he still attempted to make his voice as steady as possible. "He was cloaked. Fast.. fast as a nitch, I tell you that. Deadly. Had to rip an arrow out of my own w-wound."

The last word sounded more like an owl's call than a word, but the commander understood it anyway. He nodded his head to dismiss the party before turning back to his chair. When the commander was alone in his tent, he sighed to himself. This wasn't good, not good at all. He was running out of time; he'd already resided in Araulen far longer than he would have liked. There wasn't enough food to last the winter if they were stranded here, he was losing men left and right to the same warrior, and it was almost time to return to Gallica. He needed a new plan, desperately. He would normally discuss all of his plans with Thoan, his second-hand, but since he was incapacitated, it was now out of the question to send him on any more searches. He had no one left he could risk dying.

It was then that he came to his idea.

 

* * *

 

_Currently..._

Edwina came over in the evening and brought a wonderful beef stew with freshly cooked bread for Will and Halt. As Will normally asked of her, there was plenty, much more than one serving.  This way, the food would last a few days. Will was still feeling guilty he wasn't paying her for her service, and bothered her as little as possible. 

Halt and Will were in a joined silence that evening over dinner. It was normal for them to savor their food before ruining the taste with unpleasant news, ' _or a crummy joke_ ,' Halt liked to add when they explained their silence to guests. At that moment, they appreciated the sentiment. They were both aware it would be unusual for the older Ranger to nonchalantly visit out of the blue, so Will assumed he was here for ranger business. Crowley most likely sent halt because everyone knew they worked well together. Even though Will was on his own as a fully-fledged Ranger, Halt and him still had a tight bond. 

Once their bowls were empty, only rolls of bread remaining, Halt decided to question his new apprentice. "So.. been keeping up with your work?"

"Yep. I've been practicing at night too. Why are you so interested all the sudden?"

"Just wondering how lazy you'd become after settling down."

"I haven't gotten lazy at all!" Will claimed defensively. "You heard about the Skandian banquet?"

"Indeed I have. Not a half bad idea, I would say," Halt mumbled in his usual, monotonous voice.

"That's proof of me being not-lazy," Will huffed out, and shoved a fistful of bread into his mouth. Halt raised his eyebrow, and Will knew he was being teased by him again. "For heaven's sake, you're like my dad, fussing over me and mocking me at the same time," he managed to curse through the roll.

All halt did was humph. "You make me sound old."

"That's because you are. You're what, 74? 82?"

"Not old enough to be your dad, thank you very much," Halt grumbled to Will laughing at his expense. "Now whenever you're ready to discuss why I'm here, rather than my gray hair, let me know."

Will immediately perked up at his words. "I was wondering about that. Why are you here? Did Crowley send you? Are we going somewhere? Better now than ever, since the battle master and baron are finally tightening up on the fief, wouldn't you say?" He had been itching to leave this place since the Skandians had come to Seacliff. With them, they brought him the memories of everything he had gone through as an apprentice and the world beyond. All the events which had taken place before Will was a ranger left him with a thirst for adventure. It was understandable; plotting with Skandians, arson, and going to war with an army would leave anyone craving the world.

"Sadly, no. We are staying here unless we need otherwise. Why else would I arrive here instead of writing a letter? A slumber party?" Will sheepishly grinned at Halt's sarcasm, eyes suddenly intrigued with a spec in the distance. "I'm here because there is something curious occurring in your fief. You've had a lot of bandits bother you recently?"

Will glued his eyes back to Halt's steady gaze. "Actually, yes. But I just assumed it was normal for a more wealthy and remote fief to have more bandits?"

"Logical assumption, and it is correct. But over the past few weeks, a lot of nobles from the mainland have been raided by bandits on this island.." Halt murmured.

"Of course, it is traveling season, right before the winter snows wash over the country. Of course there are more this time of the year." Will said, wondering when Halt was going to get to his point. He never seemed to ever get to it until I came up with it myself. It was kind of amusing, as he seemingly loathed my questions until times like these. "What is so odd about it that you had to leave your fief?"

"Here's the thing. The one thing bandits typically want is money, but they aren't that bright about it. They'll usually just take all of the belongings the nobles have on them and leave them. Some bandits kill the nobles, but that's less common. The bandits that reside here are doing neither of those things." Why would bandits attack carts and wagons, and not take their stuff? Will crinkled his eyebrows at that, but silently waited for Halt to continue.  "These 'bandits', rather than getting the quick, easy money, ransom the nobles and their belongings to relatives. This is what worries me." Halt took a sip of coffee, a beverage never left out of a ranger's meal. "The hostages and their belongings are reported to be untouched when set free. It makes me wonder if they are bandits at all; typically those criminals aren't the brightest, certainly not cunning enough to realize the money behind ransoming. This makes one of two options true. I'm assuming you can guess one of them."

"They aren't bandits?"

"Was that a question?"

".. They aren't bandits."

"That's the first thing I'm guessing. They seem to be more organized and disciplined than regular bandits." Will thought back to the group of bandits he encountered a couple months previously; it made sense. They didn't behave like normal bandits. He chose not to mention it, however, because of the guilt and shame he still felt over making such a rookie mistake as attacking in very low light. He knew his mentor would be disappointed in him, the last thing Will wanted. "The second, I'll have to get more information to really consider, it's just a hunch. I may mention it another time." It disappointed him to hear that from Halt, but Will accepted it nonetheless. He could never really doubt his mentor in situations like this. In a way, he was really dependable, which was a comfort. Half the time, Will didn't know what to do when he was alone. This made Halt's appearance relaxing, like a warm blanket.

"I'm guessing we need intel now. I could ask around, I'm a friendly face to many, you know," Will offered. Halt offered back a disdained grunt. It was apparent he disagreed with Will's innate friendliness. "Not all of us are as grumpy, actually scratch that,  _can be_ as grumpy as you. Besides, I'm not chatting up the whole town. I'm still..." Will wrapped his arms around his head, forearms right beneath and above his eyes, like a mask. "...mysterious."

"Right. And my name's not Halt. But nonetheless, that's the best option for the current circumstance. For now, however, I'd like to be shown to my room."

"Right on it, Not Halt." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope no one minds, but I made halt a little younger ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Not anything major, promise <3  
> Thanks to my beta reader for all the help.
> 
> See you next time :D

**Author's Note:**

> See you next chapter! <3


End file.
